My present to you: 

An encouraging poem as we face this new year.

Happy New Year!

God Knows

by Minnie Louise Hoskins

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.

What blessings are you looking forward to this year?

BOOK REVIEW: God Is Not Fair and Other Reasons for Gratitude

Daniel P. Horan, OFM, Franciscan Media, 133 pp., $15.99

The title of this book, “God Is Not Fair,” is the title of one of its forty-eight chapters or essays. These usually run only two pages and comprise a smorgasbord of reflections on relevant topics. They include clericalism, racism, the death penalty, care for creation, equality in the Church, and mercy. Horan states in his introduction that his reflections are founded on “a belief that we must consider our faith at the intersection of theology, Scripture and culture” and be willing to “to see with new eyes, think with open minds, and care with loving hearts.”

Horan divides his reflections into three parts. In the first part he discusses the Church in the modern world. The second part is composed of his thoughts on selected Gospel passages and resembles a collection of homilies. In the third part he focuses on everyone’s vocation—the call to discipleship.

The essays challenge us to examine our lives in the light of Gospel teaching. Repeatedly Horan exhorts us to walk in the footprints of Jesus. An appealing feature of the book is that it is laced with references to Pope Francis, St. Francis, and the Franciscan way of life.

The themes and thoughts in this book are rooted in Horan’s experiences of writing articles for America magazine, Give Us This Day, and in honor of the Year of Consecrated Life. Although comparatively young, age thirty-two, Horan has a wealth of wisdom to share.